Maurice lacroix 2

Maurice Lacroix to grow quartz offering

Swiss watch brand Maurice Lacroix has revealed to WatchPro that it plans to strengthen its quartz offering.

Speaking to WatchPro editor James Buttery at this year’s SalonQP, the brand’s managing director Stéphane Waser explained why he sees such growth potential in its quartz watches.

“We rediscovered quartz; we used to be very strong in female quartz,” Waser reflected. “Next year we’ll be adding more ‘stone to the building’ and we’ll have really strong quartz again.”

Maurice Lacroix’s view is a sign that quartz is slowly being accepted again in men’s luxury timepieces, especially in the £750-1,500 price region. Recent shifts in consumer tastes has seen luxury brands turn their noses up at quartz and instead focus (wrongly in many cases) on achieving ‘manufacture’ status.

“We were about 85% quartz in the ’70s and ’80s… so this is what we want to do in the future,” envisages Waser. “There are millions of people who want a decent Swiss watch, if it’s quartz it’s quartz.”

Another big benefit of growing Maurice Lacroix’s quartz collection, according to Waser, is the fact that two of the most challenging markets for luxury watch brands at the moment, China and Hong Kong, have shown encouraging signs where quartz is concerned.

“We’ve seen that quartz is growing in China and Hong Kong. I was doing our company plan last week and there’s more potential in quartz in Asia because the markets are changing, habits are changing.

The full interview can be read in January’s edition of WatchPro .

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